Dark Souls II Closed Beta Will Launch In October

Namco Bandai announced today that it will hold a closed Dark Souls II beta for North America and Europe starting October 5. Dark Souls II, an open-world action RPG developed by From Software, follows 2011’s Dark Souls, which has come to be notorious for its punishingly difficult campaign.

Namco Bandai urges anxious fans to tune into the official Dark Souls II Facebook page starting September 5 for news concerning the beta registration process. No further information has been released.

Dark Souls II will come out next March for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC. Click here for an interview with Yui Tanimura, the game’s director.

One of the most unique features of Dark Souls was the way it handled multiplayer. Players could invade each other, help each other, and even influence other's game worlds without even knowing it. Unfortunately, interacting with other players was often hit or miss due to shoddy server issues. If this beta helps iron those wrinkles out of the game, Dark Souls II will have a strong advantage over its predecessor.